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Founding Uber CTO Oscar Salazar to present “Innovation in Legacy Industries” as part of USI Romain College of Business speaker series

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WHO: Investor and serial entrepreneur Dr. Oscar Salazar, early architect and founding Chief Technology Officer of Uber

WHAT: “Innovation in Legacy Industries.” Salazar will present and will take moderated questions from the audience. This event is part of the Romain College of Business Innovative Speaker Series and is made possible through private gifts to the USI Foundation. Past speakers in this series include T. Boone Pickens and Ben Bernanke.

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 21.

WHERE: USI Physical Activities Center (PAC). A map of campus that includes the PAC and all parking lots can be found at USI.edu/map.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Salazar will take questions from the media at 6 p.m. in PAC 209, on the second floor of the PAC. Space will be designated in the PAC for camera setup during the presentation

MEDIA PARKING: A limited amount of parking spaces will be reserved for media in Lot C near the front of the PAC. Please contact Ben Luttrull at 812-461-5259 or bluttrull@usi.edu for parking information. A map of campus that includes the Lot C can be found at USI.edu/map.

HASHTAG: #SalazarUSI

Messer Files Bill to Encourage Infrastructure Investment in Local Communities

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Indiana Treasurer Kelly Mitchell Urges Support

WASHINGTON (Monday, March 20, 2017) — Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN-06) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-12) today introduced bipartisan legislation that encourages investment in local communities by rolling back a burdensome federal banking regulation.

This Obama-era regulation discourages financial institutions from holding municipal bonds, which many state and local governments – including in Indiana – rely on to help finance infrastructure projects. The regulation makes it more difficult and costly for municipalities to borrow money, which is ultimately passed on to Hoosier taxpayers.

Messer’s bill, H.R. 1624, would revise this regulation to encourage banks to hold municipal bonds, making it more affordable for cities and towns to invest in infrastructure projects.

“This senseless federal regulation is hurting Hoosiers by making it more difficult and costly to build new schools, hospitals, bridges and roads,” Messer said. “This bipartisan bill will ensure the federal government isn’t standing in the way of local investment and growth.”

Indiana State Treasurer Kelly Mitchell said Messer’s bill will help support needed infrastructure improvements in Indiana.

“This bill allows banks to keep the costs of borrowing low for our communities which strengthens local governments’ ability to complete essential projects throughout our state,” Mitchell said. “I would like to thank Congressman Messer for his dedication and leadership on this important issue.”

H.R. 1624 would require banking regulators to classify municipal bonds as high quality liquid assets so that financial institutions may hold them as part of their liquidity set-asides.

IS IT TRUE MARCH 20, 2017

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IS IT TRUE yesterday the Burdette Park Advisory Committee President Patrick Merten spoke out against the replacement of the current Park’s Director?  …Vanderburgh County Commissioners Musgrave and Shoulders asked Jacob Murphy, the current Director of Burdette park, to step down effective April 1st?   …he was told that former Vanderburgh County Commissioner, Pat Tuley will take over his position?   …yesterday the Burdette Park Advisory Committee President Patrick Merten issued a statement  to Channel 44 news? .. .he said; .“I personally believe by all accounts Jacob has been doing a fantastic job in his capacity as park manager? … “while I can’t speak on behalf of any of the other committee members I personally have not been presented with a reason why Jacob should have been terminated from his position.”?  …we can’t wait to see how Commissioner Musgrave and Shoulders are going to respond to Mr.Merten statement concerning Jacob Murphy job performance?

IS IT TRUE that County Commissioner Ben Shoulders has been calling around to see if he can find any County Council members to vote to approve Pat Tuley as the next Director of Burdette Park?  … we’ve been told he is willing to cut a backroom political deal to eliminate Z Truly from working at Burdrtte Park in order to get around the nepotism problem he’s facing at Burdette Park?…we are happy to report not one County Council member agreed to support Ben Shoulders backroom political scheme?

IS IT TRUE we are also hearing that Commissioner Ben Shoulders may be floating the idea of making Pat Tuley a contract employees at Burdette Park in order to bypass County Council from being involved in approving the hiring of Pat Tuley?  … we wonder if this guy really understands that hiring his campaign manager as Burdette Park Director is political patronage at its worst?

IS IT TRUE Pat Tuley was the Vanderburgh County Commissioner’s appointment to the Burdette Park Advisory Board in 2016?   …the mission statement of the Burdette Park Advisory Board is “to study and review the operations of Burdette Park; to review and consider alternatives for the administration of park and recreation services in Vanderburgh County; to receive and consider citizen recommendations for administration of park and recreation services”?

IS IT TRUE If Burdette Park was in such poor conditions why didn’t Advisory Board member Pat Tuley bring his concerns to the attention of the Park Manager, members of the County Council and the President of the Vanderburgh County Commission?

IS IT TRUE members of the main stream media should get copies of the official Burdette Park Advisory Board  meeting minutes so they will be able to see if Burdette Park Director Jacob Murphy was doing his job?  …they will also will see if Advisory Board member Pat Turley voiced any concerns that he felt that the Park was in a deteriorated condition?

IS IT TRUE some feel that Its time to challenge the out of control nepotism and political patronage practices at the Civic Center? …could this be a good reason for supporters of “Indivisible Evansville” and others to “Assemble” at the steps of the Civic Center to voice thier concerns?

IS IT TRUE people are getting sick and tired of the political promises and games of our elected and appointed officials?  … do you remember back in the Sixties when the “Masses Assembled” to voice their grievances against the government?  …these protests changed the direction of this Nation for years to come?

IS IT TRUE some people feel that the local political environment is becoming ripe for the supporters of “Indivisible Evansville” and others to “Assemble” on the steps of Civic Center to protest in a positive, creative and non-violent way  to voice our concerns against the wasteful spending habits of local elected and appointed  officials on worthless public works projects?

FOOTNOTE: Today “READERS POLL’  question is: Should County Commissioners Shoulders and Musgrave withdraw their decision to fire the Director of Burdette Park?  …we can’t believe that 546 people have voted on this poll since we published it?  …we highly recommend that County Commissioners Musgrave and Shoulders take note what the results are yielding so far?

CHANNEL 44 NEWS: Burdette Park Advisory Committee President Speaks Out Against Replacing Director

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Burdette Park Advisory Committee President Speaks Out Against Replacing Director

The Burdette Park advisory Committee President is speaking out against the replacement of the park’s director. The Vanderburgh County Commissioners have asked Jacob Murphy, the current director of Burdette park, to step down effective April 1st….

Vanderburgh County Commissioners March 21, 2017 Meeting Agenda

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AGENDA

Vanderburgh County

Board of Commissioners

March 21, 2017

3:00 pm, Room 301

  1. Call to Order
  2. Attendance
  3. Pledge of Allegiance
  4. Action Items
    1. County Highway: Salt Bid 2018
    2. First Reading of Ordinance CO.04-17-006 Regarding Confined Feeding Operations
    3. First Reading of Ordinance CO.04-17-007 Accessory Uses and Structures
    4. Final Reading of Ordinance CO.03-17-003 Community Corrections Credit Card
    5. Final Reading of Ordinance CO.03-17-002 Amended Human Relations Commission Ordinance
  5. Department Head Reports
  6. New Business
  7. Old Business
  8. Public Comment
  9. Consent Items
    1. Contracts, Agreements and Leases
      1. County Sheriff’s Office: County Jail Canteen Services, Inc. Renewal Contract
      2. County Health: Shredding and Storage Unlimited, LLC Business Associate Contract
    2. Approval of March 14, 2017 Meeting Minutes
    3. Employment Changes
    4. Soil & Water Conservation District: February 28, 2017 Dinner & Meeting Minutes
    5. The Arc of Evansville:
      1. August 2016- February 2017 Report
      2. August 2016-February 2017 Meeting Minutes
    6. County Engineering: Department Head Report
    7. Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana: March 2017 Report
  1. Adjournment 

MAKE THE DEMOCRATS OWN OBAMACARE

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MAKE THE DEMOCRATS OWN OBAMACARE

Making Sense by Michael Reagan

At my age I’m pretty sure I don’t need maternity care.
At her age I’m pretty sure my granddaughter doesn’t need health insurance for her end-of-life needs.
But what do I know? I’m just a dumb citizen.

According to the architects of Obamacare – if you can call the Democrats who designed President Obama’s signature failure “architects” – I can’t be trusted to buy my own health insurance.

The architects of Obamacare in Washington, all Democrats, decided six or seven years ago they knew what the best health plan was for everyone, rich or poor, healthy or sick, old or young, Californian or New Yorker.
For them health-care choice was never an option for individual American citizens – it was one-size fits all.
They decided that every American human being, no matter what their sex, age, health or personal needs or desires, deserved Cadillac care for any possible sickness or service.

Just in case you might desire to change your gender someday, for instance, you’d be covered for the necessary surgery —- and get to pay for it in your insurance premium today.

When they drew up their plans the architects of Obamacare promised the moon but they delivered the usual piece of government space junk.

They promised insurance premiums would be low and be subsidized for the poor. Co-pays also would be minimal.  They promised all Americans would have access to affordable quality health care.  But in the real world it turned out many people can’t afford to use their Obamacare insurance cards to actually purchase health care because the deductibles are too expensive, or Obamacare’s architects severely limited the kinds of health care plans insurance companies were allowed to offer customers.

It should surprise no one that Obama’s pie-in-the sky promises have been broken and his plan is on fire and crashing to Earth.

It was cynically designed by his administration and Democrats in Congress to have its inevitable and widely predicted problems emerge after Obama was safely reelected in 2012.

But now even some Democrats are admitting Obamacare has got serious problems.
Of course, no one in the liberal media is pressing Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi to reveal how they’d change Obamacare to make it better.

If the media did ask a Washington Democrat to solve a problem they’ve created with one of their social policies, we all know the answer – throw more federal money and subsidies at it.

Republicans want radical changes that will get the government out of the health care insurance racket.
They want to repeal and replace Obamacare’s mandates so that individuals can buy the health insurance plan they want from insurance companies that want to sell it to them.

What a concept.  They want individuals and small businesses to be able to join together in larger groups or insurance pools to pay lower premiums.

And they want people to be able to buy their health insurance across state lines (like car insurance and a million other things) instead of being forced to buy from their state’s monopoly provider.
What concepts – freedom and choice.

The American people got Obamacare shoved down their throats because of the liberal myth that government knows best about everything.

Republicans in Congress – if they can get their act together and stop fighting each other —- are in a position to radically change things for the better.

But they need to come together, present a patient-based, market-based repeal & replace health care plan to the Senate and then force the Democrats there to explain to the country why they are the ones whose filibusters are preventing it from passing.

Republicans have to make the Democrats own and defend Obamacare, which will soon die a natural death.
If that doesn’t work, President Trump should invite every Republican and Democrat leader from Congress into the White House and lock the doors.

Then he should not allow anyone of either party to eat or pee or leave until they come up with a solution.

 

Legal Aid Funding Cut From Trump Budget

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Legal Aid Funding Cut From Trump Budget

The Trump Administration’s proposed budget would eliminate funding to the Legal Services Corp., which provides grants to 134 legal aid organizations around the country including Indiana Legal Services Inc.

According to the Washington Post and USA Today, the LSC is among 19 agencies that were cut completely from the White House spending proposal. The LSC, established by Congress in 1974, received $375 million federal appropriation in fiscal year 2015 and $385 million in fiscal year 2016. For fiscal year 2017, the agency had requested $502.7 million.

Rep. Susan Brooks, the Indianapolis Republican who co-founded the Access to Legal Services Caucus in Congress in 2015, is advocating for LSC funding to be retained. Noting Congress will ultimately write the budget, she described access to justice as a national priority.

“The president released his budget today, and now, it is Congress’s responsibility to draft and pass a budget that is focused on our priorities as a nation to provide for the security of our citizens and their families,” Brooks said. “Part of that security must be to protect the rights of citizens to due process and access to legal counsel. As co-chair of the Access to Legal Services Caucus, I will work to protect Americans access to legal services, regardless of income.”

Indiana Legal Services, which has eight offices around the state, receives the bulk of its funding from the LSC. In 2016, ILS reported total revenue of $9.89 million of which $6.63 million came from the Legal Services Corp. Across the state, ILS helped 10,340 clients.

“I don’t believe that we will lose all federal funding,” Laramore said. “If we did, ILS would look very different and, in particular, we would be hard pressed to provide services to rural areas.”

Linda Klein, president of the American Bar Association, released a statement rebuking the administration’s action. She said her organization was “outraged” by the proposed cut to legal services and called upon every member of Congress to restore full funding.

“LSC provides civil legal aid to people who desperately need help to navigate the legal process,” Klein said. “Without this assistance, the court house doors will slam in the faces of millions of Americans, denying them equal access to justice.”

However, the Legal Services Corp. is confident of the bipartisan support in Congress. It pointed out Capitol Hill has funded the agency for 42 years and in each of the last three fiscal year has increased funding by $10 million annually.

“I look forward to working with Congress to continue LSC’s work,” said LSC President James Sandman. “I am optimistic that the bipartisan support we have enjoyed in Congress for more than four decades will continue for years to come.”

Elpers awarded 2017 M. Edward Jones Engagement Award

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Elpers awarded 2017 M. Edward Jones Engagement Award

University of Southern Indiana Outreach and Engagement awarded the 2017 M. Edward Jones Engagement Award to Dr. Kathy Elpers, associate professor of Social Work, at the third annual Celebration of Engagement .

The award is given annually to an individual, group or project for excellence in leadership, commitment to quality, tireless service and dedication to lifelong learning in fulfilling the outreach missions of USI.

Elpers joined the University of Southern Indiana faculty in 1987 Since her arrival, Dr. Elpers has shared her gifts and talents within the community. From her work organizing the first field placements for social work students to her involvement with service learning projects for students in her classes, Dr. Elpers has maintained a passion for lifelong learning.

“Kathy believes in service to her community and having an impact on filling gaps in services for people in her community,” said one award nominator.

An advocate for Outreach and Engagement, Elpers has led several workshops, participated in many community boards and even created the inaugural Social Work Spring Festival still held annually through Outreach and Engagement.

Elpers received the Sidney Berger Award for community service in 2005. She has received the Social Worker of the Year Award once in 1991 and again in 2015. She also received the Sagamore of the Wabash and Kentucky Colonel recognition from the State of Indiana and Kentucky. Elpers has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from St. Joseph’s College, a master’s degree in social work from Rutgers University and a doctorate in leadership education from Spaulding University.

The Celebration of Engagement is an annual event held to celebrate the University’s community partnerships. This year’s event featured talks by Dr. Linda L. M. Bennett, USI President, heads of Outreach and Engagement programs and a keynote address from Amy Word-Smith, CEO of Lamasco and Dapper Pig and founder of the Franklin Street Events Association.

For more information about the Celebration of Engagement and the M. Edward Jones Engagement Award, visit USI.edu/Celebration.